NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 332 The Championship Parade

The Hawks held a championship celebration party in the Bay Area that night. Since it was in an away city, they kept it low-key and had a simple celebration. The real championship celebration will definitely be back in Atlanta.

Everyone was happy. Winning the championship is naturally the best outcome. Otherwise, if you're playing a competition in June when everyone else is on vacation and the result isn't perfect, you'll naturally feel a bit disappointed.

For NBA role players, the allure of a championship might not be as strong as a big contract, but sometimes the two aren't mutually exclusive. NBA official contracts don't include playoff appearances, but if you can win a championship, not only will the value of core players skyrocket, but even role players will see their value increase significantly.

Many key players from championship teams can sign big contracts after leaving the team and entering the free agent market.

On the morning of the 18th, the Hawks players, carrying the championship trophy, boarded a chartered plane bound for Atlanta.

It's not very far from the Bay Area to Atlanta. Although Atlanta is in the Eastern Conference, it's not like Boston, which is on the East Coast.

At 1 p.m., the plane landed in Atlanta.

As the cabin door opened, a beam of sunlight shone in and fell upon Jia Fei.

Jia Fei felt comfortable and didn't find the sunlight too bright. At the cabin door, he felt someone tapping his head; he was used to this feeling, even though it was the first time he'd experienced it from this position.

He's already a celebrity, and celebrities are bound to be photographed in all sorts of places—sometimes at the airport entrance, sometimes at the hotel entrance, and sometimes even at the bathroom entrance.

Jia Fei even struck a pose, shaking the two trophies in his hands.

When we arrived at the exit, there were so many fans that it was truly a scene of "drums and firecrackers," it was incredibly lively!

At the front of the crowd, a white man wearing protective boots was holding a bouquet of flowers, welcoming everyone.

Upon seeing him, the Hawks' players and coaching staff all smiled.

This person was none other than one of their team members, the sharpshooter Kyle Korver, nicknamed "Jaylen".

Korver did not travel with the team to Oakland; he remained in Atlanta for treatment. However, his commitment to the team remains unchanged. Although he was not physically present, his heart was with the team at Oracle Arena, fighting alongside his teammates.

Receiving the flowers from Korver, Jia Fei was so excited he almost cried. He had been moved to tears too many times in the past two days. They say a man doesn't easily shed tears, but when he's moved, his eyes easily well up with tears, just like how sometimes when he's thinking about sex, his penis gets hard. It's a conditioned reflex, beyond his control.

"Jia, thank you!" Korver was still as polite as ever.

"Kyle, I told you, we'd win!" Jia Fei said with emotion, he hadn't let his teammates down.

"Yes!" Korver still had a smile on his face.

That night, the Hawks held a lavish championship party in Atlanta, a completely different scale from the one they had the previous day in Oakland.

Jia Fei also got completely drunk and eventually didn't even know where he slept.

Art Mayork was so drunk that he lay down by the toilet door and was almost mistaken for trash and stuffed into the trash can...

Atlanta, the city that hosted the Olympics, went into a frenzy after the Hawks' victory. Many fans were partying in bars; everyone was so excited, especially considering how long it had been since the Hawks last won a championship…

In the NBA, aside from traditional powerhouses like the Lakers and Celtics, it's incredibly difficult for fans of other teams to see their favorite team win a championship. There's only one NBA champion each year, and a total of 30 teams.

Even if every team gets a turn once, that cycle would still be 30 years. And how many 30-year cycles does one have in a lifetime...?

After the championship party, Jia Fei received a call from his agent, Jeff Schwartz, who told him that the Hawks wanted to extend his contract early.

Jia Fei signed this contract on July 7, two years ago. The contract details were as follows: a fully guaranteed contract for four years with a total value of $33 million, with the fourth year being a player option.

The Hawks are worried that Jia Fei will opt out of his contract after next season and become a free agent. They don't want to lose this young superstar who is only 23 years old, and that's perfectly understandable.

In the NBA, superstars are the greatest asset. If your team doesn't have superstars, even if you have Gregg Popovich, you can't cook without rice.

Jia Fei didn't expect the team to want to extend his contract so quickly, especially since the championship parade hadn't even started yet!

He instructed his agent to tell the team that everything would be discussed after the championship parade.

Atlanta has been swept up in a wave of jubilation, and its city government is swamped with preparations for the Hawks' championship parade.

The Hawks' championship parade is scheduled for June 24.

On June 24, Atlanta time, all members of the Atlanta Hawks championship team participated in a grand championship parade in Atlanta to celebrate the team's second NBA championship since 1958.

The Hawks' championship parade will start from their home arena, Philips Center, and head to their final destination, a plaza near City Hall, where more than 7 fans are expected to gather.

Not only were Atlanta residents going crazy, but basketball fans from all over the United States and even the world came here to experience this unforgettable and wonderful moment.

At 9:30 a.m. that day, the Hawks' championship parade officially began.

Countless fans lined the streets of Atlanta today, some of whom queued overnight and slept on the roadside, all in hopes of getting a good view of the championship parade.

This kind of crazy behavior is incomprehensible to many people, but for passionate fans, it's just normal.

Today, this year's Finals MVP Jia Fei, along with his good friend Art Mayork and head coach Budenholzer, rode in a Rolls-Royce convertible.

In the car, Jia Fei and Art Mayor were smoking cigars, wearing nouveau riche gold necklaces and floral shirts and pants, looking like they had won the lottery.

The other winning members were on the floats behind, all dressed extravagantly, and each had a cigar in hand.

Jia Fei delivered an inspiring speech at the event. As the only man in the league to win two MVP awards this season, he was enthusiastically received by the fans. Several fans even fainted from excitement and had to spend a lot of money to be taken to the hospital by ambulance.

China Sports Channel and Tencent Sports also broadcast the parade live. Although it was midnight Beijing time, official data shows that more than 300 million people watched online at the same time. Jia Fei's popularity in China is simply explosive!